Zoe’s Comments (group member since Jul 07, 2013)

Zoe’s comments from the Ask Carol McGrath group.

The charters of Geoffrey Boterel, Count of Penthievre, in 1084 show that he and his brothers Alan Rufus, Alan Niger and Brian were together in Saumur in Anjou (Coco Chanel's birthplace), and again in Lamballe (which is the capital of Penthievre in north Brittany).

A reasonable guess is that Alan Rufus's movements, after his resignation as commander at Beugy next to Sainte-Suzanne in Maine, were firstly to Saumur where he met his brothers, and then travelling with them to Lamballe.

Dates relating to Count Alan Rufus or his brother Brian (very briefly)
Text in Italic is speculative. The rest is based on surviving documentation or at least majority opinion.

1038(?): Alan Rufus is born to Count Eozen Penteur the younger brother of Duke Alan III of Brittany, and Agnes the daughter of Count Alan Canhiart of Cornouaille.

1056-1060: “Comes Eudo, uxor eius Orguen et filii eorum Gausfridus, Alanus, Willelmus, Rotbertus, Ricardus…" [Count Eudes, his wife Orguen and their children Geoffrey, Alan, William, Robert, Richard ...] witnessed the Charter dated to [1056/60] which records the history of the acquisition by Angers Saint-Aubin of property "in pago Belvacensi” [the area of Beauvais in Picardy], finally donated by "comiti Britannie Eudoni” [Eudo, a Count in Brittany]".

1065(?): Alan Rufus’s sister Matilda marries Walter d’Aincourt, Lord of Derby, in Bourn, Cambridgeshire, where Edeva the Fair’s man Almer is Lord.

1066 early: William and his allies, including Eozen, begin preparing for an invasion of England.
Eozen already has 4000 professional soldiers: light cavalry, heavy cavalry, archers including cross-bowmen, and axemen. In addition, he levies and trains 1000 spearmen.

1066 at mid-year(?): Eozen has completed equipping his army, appoints his sons Brian and Alan Rufus as commanders and puts the 5000 men on 100 ships (in Penthievre? Or near Dol?). They sail to Saint-Valery-sur-Somme to join William’s army.

1066 October 14: Battle of Hastings. (This deserves a whole post of its own.)

1066 December, early in the month: Cavalry rush to Cambridgeshire. (My interpretation: Brian and Alan, accompanied by their knights and Walter d’Aincourt, ride swiftly northwards to Bourn in Cambridgeshire, followed by the rest of the Breton vanguard, to protect Matilda from any Anglo-Saxon reprisals.)

1066 December 25: Brian, Alan and Walter attend William I’s coronation.

1067: Alan witnesses a charter of King William I during one of William’s few appearances in England that year.

1068 summer: Harold’s sons, Godwine and Edmund, who had fled to Ireland, have received the support of Diarmait mac Mail na mBo, and return with a force of Irishmen and invade Devon. Brian intercepts them, “punishing their temerity with great slaughter”; he is given 227 manors in Cornwall, in addition to others he holds in East Anglia.

1069: The citizens of Le Mans, capital of Maine, rebel against the Normans.

1069: Another attack by Godwine and Edmund, this time on Exeter, is defeated by Brian.

“Two sons of King Harold went with their household troops to the king of the Irish, called Diarmait, to ask his support. After a short but favourable stay in Ireland, where they gathered a large army, they returned to England with sixty-six ships ... and laid the country waste by robbery and fire. Forthwith Brian came up against them and in the course of two battles fought in one day he defeated them.” (William of Jumieges: Gesta Normannorum Ducum VII.20(41).)

“Harold's sons’ attack of 1069: After this Harold’s sons came from Ireland at midsummer with 64 ships into the mouth of the Taw, and landed incautiously. And Count Brian came against them by surprise with no little force, and fought against them and killed all the best men who were in that fleet; and the others escaped with a small force to the ships. And Harold’s sons went back to Ireland again.” ASC (C-F) 1042-1087 D 1068 (1069).

1069: People of Northumbria kill their Norman rulers. Too many events to mention here, but this is the year that William returns to England.

1069 December 25: King William lodges in York.

1069 December – 1070 January: Harrying of the North. The region from York to Durham is devastated. Huge numbers of people killed, many more left to starve.

1070: Maine expels the Normans. Hugh V proclaimed Count of Maine.

1069 or 1070: Alan is first granted land in North Yorkshire.

1070: King William gives Hindrelac in Swaledale to Alan Rufus. Alan renames the location "Richmond".

1071: Edwin and Morcar again seek to rebel, but Edwin is soon betrayed to the Normans by his own retinue and killed.

1071: Edwin's lands centred at Gilling West in his brother Morcar's Northumbrian earldom are given to Alan.

1071: Alan begins building the great castle of Richmond, named after a rural property of his in Upper Normandy. Below the castle he builds the beautiful town of Richmond.

1069-1072(?): Brian is feeling the effects of his battle injuries, and retires to Brittany with his wife. Brian’s lands in Cornwall are transferred to Robert the Count of Mortain.

1075: Revolt of the Earls, led by Ralph, Roger, and (hesitantly) Waltheof, the Earl of Northumbria. The Earls lose but Ralph evades capture and escapes to Brittany where he is Lord of Gael and Montfort. Roger is imprisoned. Waltheof pleads for clemency but is imprisoned for a year then executed.

1075: Many of Ralph’s properties go to Count Alan, greatly increasing his possessions in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk.

1075: Alan witnesses a writ of King William in London.

1076: Alan witnesses a writ of King William in London.

1076: Alan witnesses a charter of King William in England.

1077: Alan witnesses a charter of King William in England.

1079: Alan's father, Eozen dies.

1080 March 14: William Walcher, Bishop of Durham, is murdered by Northumbrians. They besiege his castle at Durham for four days then return to their homes.

William sends Bishop Odo with an army to harry the Northumbrian countryside (again!). Odo destroys much land north of the Tees and steals valuable items from Durham monastery. Many of the Northumbrian nobility are driven into exile.

1081: Alan witnesses three charters of King William in England and one charter of Queen Matilda in England.

1082: Alan witnesses a charter of King William and Queen Matilda in England.

1082: Godwine and Edmund raid Cornwall. (No Brian to stop them.)

1082: Bishop Odo plans a trip to Rome. Is he thinking of becoming Pope? Or of otherwise using the Church to impose his will on England? Fearing the worst, William deposes Odo “as Earl of Kent” and takes Odo’s lands into his own care. Odo is placed in prison, not to be released. This removes Alan's main political rival, so did Alan counsel this?

1082: William retakes all of Maine’s castles except Viscount Hubert de Beaumont’s formidably located Sainte Suzanne, where Hubert leads the garrison in person.

1083(?): William sends Alan with William’s best household knights to build a fortified camp a few hundred metres away from Sainte Suzanne at Beugy.

1083: Alan’s fame is drawing all the most experienced knights from across France to show their mettle in defence of Sainte Suzanne. Norman and Breton lords and knights on foray are captured and ransomed in increasing numbers. When they attempt to fight their captors, they are killed. Alan’s prowess prevents things from being worse, as no one can touch him in battle, but this only increases the attraction.

1084(?): Alan makes the strategic decision to resign his command at Beugy. He hands over to his Breton subordinate Anvrai (Hervey?). While this removes the prospect of hand-to-hand combat with Alan, Sainte Suzanne has already become a Cause Celebre and the French knights keep coming.

1084 "Geoffrey count of the Bretons called Boterel" donates property to the abbey of Saint-Florent, Saumur [in Anjou] with the consent of "all his brothers namely Brientius comes Angliæ terræ [Brian, Earl in the Lands of the English], and Alan Rufus his successor and another Alan who was called Niger, this third succeeded him in the kingdom" by charter dated to [1084].

1084: “Omnes fratres eius: Briennius…comes Anglice terre et Alanus Rufus eius…successor…alter Alanus qui et Niger dicebatur…tertius successit in regno et quidam qui sororem eius bastardam uxorem duxerat Enisandus de Pleveno" witness the charter dated 1084, relating to the foundation of the priory of Saint-Martin de Lamballe by "Gauffredus Britannorum comes”. [“All his brothers: Brian a count in England, and Alan Rufus his ... successor ... another Alan called Niger ... this third succeeded him in the kingdom, and whose sister had married Enisandus de Pleveno” witness the charter dated 1084, relating to the foundation of the priory of Saint-Martin de Lamballe by "Geoffrey count of the Bretons”.

1085 Christmas: In Gloucester, William meets with his Council and the Bishop of Durham to plan a survey of landholdings, potential tax revenues and available knights in England.

1086: The siege of Sainte-Suzanne ends.

1086: Alan witnesses a charter of King William in Fécamp, Normandy.

1086: Alan witnesses a judicial decision by King William in Wiltshire.

1086: Domesday survey conducted in stages: Little Domesday (Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk), and another six circuits for Great Domesday (the rest of England).

1086: Domesday records Stephen (formerly of Whitby and Lastingham) and his monks as present in York. (In 1088, these will be the founding monks of St Mary's.)

It also shows that Alan has promoted Almer and numerous other Angles and Danes in East Anglia and the North. He has also excluded Normans and, pointedly, Bishop Odo, from "The Land of Count Alan". Even King William and Count Robert of Mortain are allowed only one village each, on the fringes of the Land.

1087 September 9: William the Conqueror dies of a riding injury that occurred during battle in France. As he lies dying, he releases prisoners, including Morcar and Odo of Bayeux.

1088 around Easter: Odo of Bayeux and Robert of Mortain conspire with Robert Curthose to depose William II Rufus. Six of the ten great magnates join the rebellion: the other four are: Robert de Mowbray the Earl of Northumbria, Robert’s uncle Geoffrey de Montbray the Bishop of Coutances, Roger Bigod the Earl of Norfolk, and Roger de Montgomery the Earl of Shrewsbury.

After the king sets off with the Bishop of Durham, William de St-Calais, and some troops to counter Odo in Kent, St-Calais suddenly deserts and flies north, shutting himself in Durham Castle.

1088: Alan is by far the most powerful and experienced of those few magnates who are loyal to William II.

1088: William II wins the English over by promising better government than his father had provided, and meanwhile to give their communities lavish gifts of silver to prove the sincerity of his intentions.

1088: Robert Curthose’s fleet is unable to cross the Channel “because of bad weather”.

1088 summer’s end: The rebellion is comprehensively defeated. Alan, with the other loyalists, urges clemency: “...if you remit your anger against these men [the rebels] and benevolently retain them with you, or at least allow them to depart in peace, you will enjoy the benefits of their friendship and service on many future occasions. It may be that the man who [has harmed] you, later obeys you as a friend.”

1088 autumn: William II sends Alan and two other lords to Durham to speak with St-Calais. They wait outside Durham Castle for two days, pleading with him on the King’s behalf.

1088 autumn: William II lays siege to St-Calais in the bishop's stronghold of Durham. St-Calais surrenders himself, but his men still hold the castle.

1088 November 2: William de St-Calais is put on trial for treason in Salisbury. Alan takes an important part in the proceedings.

In a plea bargain, William de St-Calais turns over Durham Castle to William II and is allowed to go into exile in Normandy. (Later he will regain the king's favour and be reinstated as Bishop of Durham.)

1088: Alan Rufus lays the foundation stone for St Mary’s Abbey in York for Abbot Stephen (formerly of Whitby and Lastingham). (The site previously had an abbey commemorating St Olaf II of Norway.)

1093: Alan grants land to Abbot Baldwin of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk.

1093 August 4 (best current estimate): Alan Rufus dies.

I'm constructing a timeline for Alan Rufus. In its long form, it includes events from late Anglo-Saxon and Danish England that became important later.

Among the interesting discoveries, Alan witnessed a donation by his father Eozen of land he owned in Picardy.

As you can see, Alan has the superior pedigree, even if one ignores legitimacy issues.

It's through the Breton side that Alan and William descend from Charlemagne; indeed, Alan has a second such descent, through his mother Agnes.

Carol wrote: "Zoe, can you send me a simple lineage for my book for Alan showing back to grand sire and showing relationship to King William. I shall absolutely credit you for this. Working on it tomorrow."

Yes, and let's go back three generations, because that best reveals the shared lineage, which was so important genetically, culturally and politically.

Key:
fm = father's mother, etc.
Breton name where applicable and if known (English name) (birth - death)

I've emboldened the four great-grandparents shared by Alan and William, i.e. all four grandparents shared by Alan's and William's fathers.

Count Alan Rufus

Alan ar Rouz (Alan Rufus) (c.1038 – 4 Aug 1093)
f: Eozen Pentevr (Odo, Count of Penthievre) (c. 999 - 1079)
m: Orguen (or Agnès) Kanhiart Kernev (Agnes Canhiart of Cornouaille) (c. 1015/1018 - c. 1056)
ff: Jafrez Roazhon, dug Breizh (Geoffrey I of Rennes, Duke of Brittany) (c. 980 – November 20, 1008)
fm: Hawiz Normandi (Hawise of Normandy) (c. 977 - 21 February 1034)
mf: Alan Kanhiart, Kont Kernev (Alan Canhiart, Count of Cornouaille) (c. 990 - 1058)
mm: Judit Naoned (Judith of Nantes) (died 1063)
fff: Konan Iañ, dug Breizh (Conan I, Duke of Brittany) (died 27 June 992)
ffm: Ermengarde Anjev (Ermengarde-Gerberga of Anjou) (c. 956 - c. 1024), Countess of Rennes, Regent of Brittany (992-994) and Countess of Angoulême
fmf: Richard I, Duke of Normandy (933 – 996)
fmm: Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy (c. 950 – c. 1031)
mff: Benedig Kernev (Benoît, Count of Cornouaille) (c. 952 – 1026)
mfm: Guinodeon of Porhoët (c. 956 - 1043)
mmf: Yezekael Naoned (Judicael of Nantes) (before 979 – 1004)
mmm: Mélisende of Maine (c. 980 – 1064)

William the Conqueror

William II, Duke of Normandy (c. 1028 – 9 September 1087)
f: Robert II, Duke of Normandy, called “the Magnificent” (22 June 1000 – 1–3 July 1035)
m: Herleva of Falaise (in the Gallo language which was then dominant in Lower Normandy, her name is Arlette) (c. 1003 – c. 1050)
ff: Richard II, Duke of Normandy, called “the Good” (978/83 – 28 August 1026)
fm: Judit Breizh (Judith of Brittany) (982 - 1017)
mf: Fulbert of Falaise (dates unknown), by profession a tanner or undertaker, later elevated to Chamberlain to the Duke of Normandy, a job that required overseeing burials.
mm: unknown
fff: Richard I, Duke of Normandy (933 – 996)
ffm: Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy (c. 950 – c. 1031), said to be of Danish noble descent, her family were wealthy foresters in the Pays de Caux in Upper Normandy.
fmf: Konan Iañ, dug Breizh (Conan I, Duke of Brittany) (died 27 June 992)
fmm: Ermengarde Anjev (Ermengarde-Gerberga of Anjou) (c. 956 - c. 1024)
mff: unknown
mfm: unknown
mmf: unknown
mmm: unknown

The "Richemont" in the story of Jean de Brosse is Arthur de Richemont (24 August 1393 – 26 December 1458), "the Justiciar", Lord of Parthenay, Constable of France, Count of Montfort and future Duke Arzhur III of Brittany. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_I....)

(During the middle ages, many Bretons were Constables of France, this despite Brittany being an independent nation.)

Arthur had been wounded at the Battle of Agincourt (Azincourt) on 25 October 1415. Nearly 35 years later, it was his last-minute arrival and broadside cavalry charge at the Battle of Formigny on 15 April 1450 disrupted the English army and turned a certain and very costly French defeat into a stunning and decisive victory. English-held Normandy then fell to France.

In a last desperate manoueuvre, the English landed troops in Gascony, which they still held, but another Breton cavalry charge, this time from the rear of the English position, wiped them out, and the Hundred Years' War was over.

Here's something interesting: according to the "Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England" site overseen by Professor Keats-Rohan:

1086: Alan witnesses a charter of King William in Fécamp, Normandy.

1086: Alan was present at a judicial decision by King William in Wiltshire. (Robert of Mortain was also present.)

Now, what was Alan doing in Wiltshire in 1086? I can think of several factors:

(1) Accompanying King William.
(2) Advising King William.
(3) Wilton Abbey - Gunhild?
(4) Domesday Survey.

We now have several links between Alan and the Commissioners and Compiler(s) of Domesday:

(1) Alan's brother Richard was Canon at Bayeux with Thomas of Bayeux and William de Saint-Calais.
(2) Thomas became Archbishop of York 1070-1100.
(3) Alan was a particularly influential magnate in the vicinity of York 1069/1070-1093.
(4) Thomas's mother was Muriel from Brittany.
(5) Thomas's brother Samson was named after Saint Samson of Dol, a place allied with Alan's father Eozen.
(6) Samson is one of the suggested candidates for compiler of the Domesday Book(s).
(7) Archbishop Thomas consecrated William de Saint-Calais as Bishop of Durham in 1080/1081 and was his immediate superior.
(8) On Nicky's evidence, "William de Saint-Calais is far more likely [than Alan] to have been the driving force behind Domesday Book. He was instructed by King William to make a new entry in the Exon returns, written by one of his own Durham scribes, and it was another of the Durham scribes who wrote the Great Domesday book, all of it - there are at least three other manuscripts in the Durham library written in the same hand. William of St Calais was also known to have been directly involved in at least two circuits of the survey (the circuits being the means to divide the country to make the inquisition manageable - there were probably seven in all)."
(9) When St-Calais was holed up in his castle, refusing to submit to William II, Alan was sent to talk reason with St-Calais.
(10) Alan is known to have played a major role in St-Calais' trial.
(11) Alan was a member of William II's Council when they advised leniency for the conspirators.
(12) In 1086 Alan was with King William in Wiltshire, an area far from Alan's usual area of operations, but in the direction of Exeter when Exeter was being surveyed.

It's plausible that Alan's advice got Thomas appointed Archbishop, and that Alan and Thomas pulled strings for Bishops St-Calais and Samson.

Further, I suggest that not only King William but also members of his Council, including Alan and Robert of Mortain, had timely oversight of the Domesday Commissioners' work.

As further evidence, Alan was particularly mobile at this time.

Zoe wrote: "Thomas of Bayeux's brother Samson (died on 5 May 1112) was also a canon at Bayeux and was employed as the Diocese's Treasurer..."

Canon/Bishop Samson was named after Saint Samson of Dol (born late 5th century in south Wales), one of the seven founder-saints of Brittany. Saint Samson was the son of Amon of Demetia and Anna of Gwent, daughter of Meurig ap Tewdrig, King of Glamorgan and Gwent.

The other six founder-saints were Pol Aurelian of Léon, Tugdual or Tudwal of Treguier, Brioc after whom Saint-Brieuc is named, Malo, Patern (Paternus) of Vannes, and Corentin of Quimper.

Thomas of Bayeux's brother Samson (died on 5 May 1112) was also a canon at Bayeux and was employed as the Diocese's Treasurer. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson_%....)

As one may have observed, Bretons love Biblical names (they claim a descent from St James the Greater), so probably Muriel named her sons.

By 1086, according to Domesday, Samson was a royal chaplain and held St. Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton, and considerable properties in southern Staffordshire.

V. H. Galbraith has suggested Samson as the scribe who oversaw the compilation of the Domesday Book.

In 1096 Samson was elected Bishop of Worcester. He had two sons Richard and Thomas, and a daughter, Isabelle of Douvres.

Richard was Bishop of Bayeux from 1108 to 1133.

Thomas was Archbishop of York from 1108 to 1114; he is called Thomas II to distinguish him from his uncle.

Isabelle had an affair with Robert Earl of Gloucester (half-brother of Empress Matilda) and gave birth to another Richard who was Bishop of Bayeux from 1135 to 1142.

Alan of Walsingham (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_of_...) exemplifies the talent brought and sustained by the Bretons to England. It was he who designed the unique octahedral tower of the Cathedral of Ely.

These brief glimpses of brilliance in the sciences and arts hint that the Bretons contributed early to the Renaissance and the later Enlightenment.

Richard, brother of Alan Rufus, is said to have been a Canon at Bayeux. If so, Alan would have had firsthand information about Bishop Odo's conduct of his ecclesiastic duties.

Richard would have worked with the remarkable Thomas of Bayeux (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_o...) and known him well.

Thomas was Archbishop of York from 1070 to 1100, so he was long associated with Alan Rufus.

Thomas's father was a priest named Osbert ("of Norman descent") and his mother's name was Muriel, which is Breton for "bright sea". (The name is also found in Irish and Scots Gaelic.)

Zoe wrote: "...Nicole de Châtillon..."

The Châtillon family (a member of which is mentioned in scene 1 of Shakespeare's "King John") had become very wealthy, because of a dowry from the Breton sovereign house, which itself had always been fabulously rich but became more so due to wealth creation by Alan Rufus.

Other families who so benefitted by intermarriage with the Bretons include - and this list is far from exhaustive - the Houses of Valois and Bourbon in France, the House of Luxembourg, the House of Lorraine, the House of Habsburg, the House of Hanover, and the House of Hohenzollern. (The last three were real surprises to me, but why else would they wear ermine?)

It was Breton-ruled Lorraine, in the German ("Holy Roman") Empire, who first equipped Joan of Arc.

Who was overall in charge ie the main overload count in Alan's day ."

Are you asking who was Duke of Brittany?

Referring to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...

1008-1034: Alan III and his brother Eozen I (AR's father) jointly.

1034-1040: Alan III alone; Eozen granted County of Penthievre.

1040-1066: Konan II (see Bayeux tapestry); he was the only son of Alan III.

1066-1072: Hawiz, only daughter of Alan III. Her consort was Hoel II the eldest son of Alan Canhiart and Judith of Nantes. Thus Hawiz was Alan Rufus's first cousin on his father's side, and Hoel was his eldest maternal uncle! (Weird, but legit!)

1072-1112: Alan IV "Fergant" (the Strong), eldest son of Hoel and Hawiz. He was thus Alan Rufus's first cousin on AR's mother's side and his first cousin once removed on AR's father's side: genetically 3/4 of a brother. Alan IV inherited on his mother's death; his father lived till 1084 and served as Regent (because Alan IV was too young to rule on his own). Alan IV married William I's daughter Constance (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constanc...) in 1086 (no children); she died on 13 August 1090. In the eventful year of 1093, Alan IV married Ermengarde (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ermengar...) daughter of Fulk IV of Anjou; they had three children.

Carol wrote: "They seem amazing times. If only I could time travel. I had no idea Brittany was so interesting."

The most readily available public information is of course only the tip of the iceberg, but in studying the most well-documented decisions of the various branches of the Breton sovereign house from the late medieval era onward, one can get an impression of what drove them.

In summary, they seemed to be seeking: (1) to prevent any one authority from becoming too powerful, (2) to ensure that talent didn't go to waste.

A few snapshots may help to illustrate.

The Bretons and their leaders were quick to support the French Revolution because its ideals appeared superior to those of absolute monarchy. However, once the Terror began, they opposed it. They lost; that was when Brittany officially ceased to be a separate nation.

Breton families in Scotland became Protestant and were early supporters of Oliver Cromwell (a distant relative of theirs), but they could not stomach the extreme social policies of his Protectorate, so then they fought against him.

The same families had always looked down on the Stewarts as descendants of a mere Seneschal of Dol and refused to acknowledge their authority as Kings (though they occasionally intermarried with them). However, when the Stewarts were desperate, these families supported Bonnie Prince Charlie, clearly not for religious reasons.

Toward the end of the Hundred Year's War, Jean de Brosse (1375–1433) was councillor, chamberlain and marshal to King Charles VII of France. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_de_....) Jean was born in his father's Huriel castle in the Auvergne; so far as I know he had not prior connections with the Bretons anywhere. The point is his character and deeds and how the Breton sovereign house responded.

"He fought the English and their allies at the side of Lahire, Dunois, Xaintrailles, and Richemont. He soon began growing short of money, however, due to work on the castle of Boussac and the cost of his army. The French government was unable to compensate de Brosse for his service, being short on money themselves. He resorted to selling off his crockery, silver, and his wife’s jewelry. He also freed the inhabitants of Boussac from his rule, in exchange for money."

Charles VII was not a good king: he was selfish and ungrateful; his best point was that he was in such a weak position that he had to cooperate with his betters.

"In 1428 de Brosse took part in a rebellion, however it was soon squashed and the rebels locked up. However, since the king desperately needed generals, they were granted clemency."

Jean de Brosse was closely associated with Joan of Arc.

"De Brosse was among the French leaders who attempted to repel the English advance, however they failed, and in 1429 the English arrived at Orléans. Joan of Arc tried to get the king to send her, and with the urging of de Brosse, the king was convinced and sent Joan under the escort of Jean de Brosse and Jean's cousin Louis de Culant. The king also sent troops with them who joined the main French army. Under the leadership of Joan of Arc, the French won the Siege of Orleans. Because of his services, de Brosse was given a place of honor at the coronation of the king."

Poor Joan was not appreciated by the King, so de Brosse had to step in, alas to no avail.

"On May 24, 1430, Joan of Arc was captured. De Brosse tried to convince the king to save her without effect. [Jean] ruined himself trying to raise an army. He joined Xaintrailles and Lahire at the head of an army of 4,000. They liberated Compiegne, however Joan of Arc was no longer in the city. She had been moved to Rouen, where she was burned on May 30, 1431. De Brosse tried to avenge her by taking Rouen, however his plan failed, and he returned to Boussac."

Tragedy then struck Jean.

"Upon his arrival at Boussac after his defeat, de Brosse learned of his wife’s death. Overwhelmed, he never left Boussac again for the rest of his life. He died in June 1433. Because of the great debts de Brosse had at the time of his death, his creditors threatened to have him excommunicated postmortem, and [to have] his mortal remains [dispersed]."

It couldn't get much worse. Fortunately, Charles was shamed.

"The king ... raised enough money to pay off the debts, and de Brosse’s body was left in the abbey at Prébenoît."

The story seems to end with the next generation impoverished, but the Bretons weren't about to let his family go unrewarded.

"Jean II de Brosse, also Jehan II de Brosse (towards 1423 – August 6, 1482), was the elder son of Marshal of France Jean de Brosse. On the 18 June 1437 he married Nicole de Châtillon de Blois. Jean became chamberlain of the king of France in 1449. In 1479, Nicole brought him, through inheritance, the County of Penthièvre in Brittany."

Zoe wrote: "...The Breton, Robert Earl of Mortain..."

If Robert the Count of Mortain was 'Breton' then his brother Odo, the Bishop of Bayeux, would have been 'Breton' too. I always wondered why reports had him on the Breton wing at the Battle of Hastings.

Keats-Rohan and others have proposed that there were 3 groups of Bretons in immediate post-Conquest Britain: Alan Rufus and his subordinates, Ralph de Gael and his men, and the Bretons from Dol and points south who occupied south-west England.

If we throw the Avranches family at Chester and the King's half-brothers Robert and Odo into the mix, that makes 5 groups of Bretons, between them holding a very large proportion indeed of England.

However, the theory that the 'Dol' group was independent doesn't really hold water, given that their principal tenants-in-chief were Alan's brother Brian, then Robert of Mortain.

So when Ralph rebelled and left, there were 3 groups of Bretons: Alan's in the east, Chester's in the north-west, and Robert and Odo's in the centre, south-west and south-east.

When Odo and later Robert's son lost their lands due to rebellion, that left only Alan's heirs and the Earls of Chester. No wonder, then, that during the Anarchy one of the major conflicts that emerged was between Count Stephen's son Alan Niger II, 4th Earl of Richmond in the east and Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester in the west. It's also unsurprising that the point of contention was the vacated Earldom of Cornwall and the south-west of England.

Riothamus, according to Jordanes, attempted to come to the aid of the Roman Emperor Anthemius against Euric the Goth, but the Praetorian Prefect of Gaul, Arvandus, betrayed him by inviting Euric to redirect his whole army to ambush Riothamus. After a long battle against overwhelming odds, Riothamus and the few survivors were forced to retreat to Armorica.

For this subterfuge, which was suspected to be part of a plot to seize the imperial throne, Arvandus was dismissed from office in 472 and brought to Rome in chains to stand trial; the intervention of his friend Sidonius succeeded in commuting the sentence from death to exile.

Carol wrote: "Intermarriage of course brought Brittany close to France. Depends on the concept of liberty and for whom?..."

Ancient and medieval Brittany provided significant liberties for the common people, which made it an attractive place for those seeking personal freedom to flee to: and they gladly availed themselves of its opportunities. (That it was one of the wealthiest parts of Europe was also a drawcard of course.)

As an example, a letter from Sidonius Apollinaris to his friend Riothamus (King of the Britons/Bretons) circa 460 asks the latter to mediate in the matter of a "humble" slaveowner whose "grievance is that the Bretons are secretly enticing his slaves away".

C.E.V. Nixon considered that Armorica had become "like a magnet to peasants, coloni, slaves and the hard-pressed".

Paraphrasing Nixon, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riothamus states: "Poorer subjects of Rome with no stake in land ownership found Breton territory to be a safe haven from the Goths."

Armorica's defences were shored up by the immigration of disaffected soldiers, a continuation of the pattern already established in the time of Magnus Maximus, who often won battles by the enemy's troops defecting.

In the medieval era, political refugees from France and Britain found safety in Brittany. This was made easier by Brittany's decentralised political model, which: even its strongest Kings and Dukes had to share power with regional Counts and Viscounts.

Indeed, the tribal divisions that existed in pre-Roman times coincide with the political Departments that partition modern Brittany: an astonishing display of continuity.

As another example, the Breton princess Renee of France was married to the Duke of Ferrara, Ercole II d'Este, grandson of Pope Alexander VI. Ercole was the fiercest of Catholics during the counter-Reformation, but she regularly defied him by providing sanctuary to Protestants.

The Jon Mills article cites five scholars (from 1914 to 2006) describing the "Norman invasion" of England as viewed in Cornwall as the "Armorican return".

For a long time before, and after, 1066, Armorica was the "Land of Liberty". I can almost hear the Breton recruits singing the George Michael Cohan (Keohane) song "Over There" but with a few words changed: "the Brets are Coming" and "the Gwenn-ha-Du" instead of "the red-white-and-blue".

The medieval fortifications of Brittany were built to last.

In WW2, according to http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/..., "St. Malo was heavily defended - as was the surrounding area. The Americans encountered fierce opposition but they gradually advanced to the city's citadel, where General Andreas von Aulock had his headquarters. The construction of the citadel meant that 1000-pound bombs were of little use against its walls - likewise 1000-pound armour piercing bombs. The Americans brought up two 8-inch artillery guns that fired from just 1,500 meters directly onto port holes and vents. The Americans were preparing to drop napalm onto the citadel when Aulock surrendered with 400 men. The Americans found him `unbearably arrogant'. However, von Aulock had succeeded in holding up the American advance by two weeks".

The Americans took 5 weeks to take Brest, and succeeded in destroying the German submarine bunkers but some of the ancient structures withstood everything that WW2 technology could throw at them. By the time Brest was taken, the Americans had lost 10,000 killed and wounded.

The allies realised that capturing all the port cities in Brittany would take too long and consume huge resources in materials and manpower, so they eventually gave up. Consequently, the German garrisons in Lorient and St Nazaire held out until the day after the surrender of Germany.

On reflection, I wonder why in the late 15th/early 16th century, Brittany surrendered to the King of France at all? They could have held out forever.

A scan of an article by Jon Mills on Cornish history post-Conquest is available at:

http://www.academia.edu/667747/Genoci...

It contains a list of the many Bretons who held land in Cornwall and Devon, including one Judhellus filius Aluredus (i.e. Juhel fitz Alfred, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juhel_de...) who was lord of Totnes and held 107 manors in Devon and 1 in Cornwall. Juhel had a son named Alfred who died young, a daughter named Aenor who married Philip de Braose, and an unnamed daughter who married Henry de Tracy.

The article states: "The Breton, Robert Earl of Mortain, half brother of William the Conqueror, succeeded Brient as Earl of Cornwall. This was a shrewd move by William because he knew that appointing Celtic Bretons to Cornwall would be popular and cause fewer problems: a closely related Celtic tongue would have been widely spoken and prestigious at the time."

Robert had extensive Breton connections, commercial, political and familial, but was he a Breton?

Mortain is in Normandy but very close to the Breton border, in a region that had been ruled from Brittany before 907. So, maybe Robert could have self-identified as Breton.

(Avranches, mentioned previously as the hometown of the Earls of Chester, is right up against the current Breton border, which lends some support to the observation that they were ethnically Breton.)

To put this into perspective, Rouen, the capital of Normandy, where Alan Rufus had property, is 309 km from the current Breton border. Rouen rebelled at William II's instigation against Robert Curthose in 1090. This rebellion was led by "a powerful burgher named Conan Pilatus". From this we can deduce that at least one Breton commoner was in a strong civic position in Rouen.

Indeed, the Bretons had been expanding commercially and politically south into Aquitaine (the "Breton Strait" being at La Rochelle) and across northern France (and eventually expanded into the German Empire).